What We Experienced in Beijing: Dad and Elaine wandered Gui Street (簋街, Guǐjiē) after dark, under rows of red lanterns, past restaurants, old shopfronts and late-night food stops — with one very modern ending: Elaine ordering a drink by QR code.
Some places in Beijing feel completely different after sunset.
Gui Street (簋街, Guǐjiē) was one of them.
By day, Dongzhimen Inner Street is still a busy Beijing road.
But at night?
The red lanterns come on.
Restaurants glow.
People arrive for dinner and late-night food.
Scooters move through the traffic.
Shop signs compete for attention.
And after the rain, the lights reflect off the road.
Dad and Elaine had come to see what one of Beijing’s best-known night food streets actually felt like.
Not from a guidebook.
By walking through it.
🌙 First Impression: Red Lanterns Everywhere
The first thing Dad noticed was the color.
Red lanterns stretched across the street and along the storefronts.
Traditional-style façades glowed beneath modern signage.
People were eating under outdoor canopies.
Traffic kept moving in front of us.
Old-looking Beijing architecture.
Modern Beijing nightlife.
All in one frame.
That contrast became the whole story of our evening.
🎥 Come Walk Gui Street With Us
The video begins with us crossing Dongzhimen Inner Street (东直门内大街, Dōngzhímén Nèi Dàjiē).
Cars.
Taxis.
Delivery scooters.
A trolleybus.
Wet pavement after the rain.
Then we reach the lantern-lit sidewalk.
That’s when the street starts revealing itself.
What Is Gui Street 簋街?
Gui Street is commonly known in Beijing as Guijie (簋街).
The Chinese character 簋 (guǐ) refers to an ancient food vessel, which makes the name rather appropriate for a street now strongly associated with eating.
But international visitors may also hear the English nickname:
“Ghost Street.”
Whatever name you use, the experience is simple:
Come hungry. Come at night. Walk slowly.
The street stretches along Dongzhimen Inner Street and is packed with restaurants and food businesses.
And Dad quickly realized this wasn’t the sort of food street where every shop sells the same thing.
One Street, Many Different Kinds of Food
As we walked, Dad’s camera caught all sorts of signs.
Crayfish.
Xinjiang food.
Snacks.
Drinks.
Ice cream.
Restaurants packed with diners.
Small shops squeezed between bigger establishments.
Some places looked modern.
Others sat behind brick façades and traditional-style entrances.
That mixture is part of what makes the street visually interesting.
One moment you’re looking at a façade that feels connected to Old Beijing.
The next…
there’s a glowing modern drinks chain.
😂
👀 Look at These Old Shopfronts
Dad kept photographing the buildings as much as the food.
Gray brick.
Arched windows.
Wooden doors.
Traditional signage.
Old commercial façades lit dramatically at night.
And in many cases, those older-looking exteriors now contain businesses serving modern Beijing customers.
That’s what we enjoyed most.
The street didn’t feel like a frozen historical exhibit.
It felt used.
Adapted.
Commercial.
Alive.
🥟 Then We Found the Snacks
One little shop caught Dad’s attention because of the large sign referring to 驴打滚 (lǘdǎgǔn).
Despite the memorable name — literally something like “donkey rolling” — this is a traditional Beijing-style sweet snack made from glutinous rice with a sweet filling and soybean flour.
No donkeys involved.
Thankfully. 😂
These are the small things that make walking a food street more interesting than simply sitting down for one meal.
You begin asking:
What’s that?
Why is it called that?
Is that a Beijing food?
And suddenly the street becomes another little cultural rabbit hole.
Dad & Elaine Under the Lanterns
This is probably our favorite photograph from the night.
Dad.
Elaine.
Panda.
Cheers.
And rows of glowing red lanterns disappearing into the distance behind us.
We weren’t standing in front of a famous monument.
There was nothing here we needed to “complete.”
We were simply enjoying the street.
That’s an important part of traveling in China too.
Not every evening needs another UNESCO site.
Sometimes you need:
lights
food
people
noise
and a long walk after dinner.
Then Elaine Did Something Very 2020s China
After all those brick façades, traditional snacks and red lanterns…
Elaine wanted a drink.
So she stopped at Mixue Bingcheng (蜜雪冰城, Mìxuě Bīngchéng).
🎥 Watch Elaine Order
In the video, Elaine takes out her phone.
Scans the QR code.
Orders.
Done.
That moment made Dad smile.
Because this is modern China in one tiny scene.
We were standing on a street filled with visual references to Old Beijing…
while Elaine ordered her drink digitally with her phone.
No contradiction.
Both belong to Beijing now.
First-Time Traveler Tip: Your Phone Matters
Gui Street is also a good reminder of something practical for international travelers.
China’s everyday shopping and food ordering can be very digital.
QR codes are everywhere.
Payment apps are extremely common.
So before traveling, it helps to have Alipay (支付宝, Zhīfùbǎo) or WeChat Pay (微信支付, Wēixìn Zhīfù) set up and working.
Elaine ordering her drink looked completely ordinary.
Because in Beijing…
it was.
The Rain Actually Made It Better
Dad’s video shows the street after rain.
The road was wet.
Vehicle lights reflected off the pavement.
Lanterns glowed more strongly against the dark street.
Scooters and traffic moved through the reflections.
We wouldn’t recommend planning your evening around rain. 😂
But visually?
It gave the street another layer.
The photographs from that night have a very different feeling from our daytime Beijing walks.
📍 Want to Experience Gui Street 簋街?
Look for:
簋街 — Guijie / Gui Street
It is located along:
东直门内大街 — Dongzhimen Inner Street
in Dongcheng District (东城区, Dōngchéng Qū).
🚕 Using DiDi
Search for:
簋街
or
东直门内大街
If you want to show a driver, you can simply use the Chinese destination on your phone.
The street is long, so choosing a specific restaurant or central point is usually better than asking to be dropped at a vague “food street.”
When Should You Go?
Dad would choose:
Evening.
That’s when the red lanterns become part of the experience.
Come after dark.
Walk first.
Look at the menus and storefronts.
See what catches your attention.
Then decide where to eat.
That worked better for us than arriving with one restaurant already fixed in our heads.
Don’t Expect Every Restaurant to Be “Old Beijing”
This is another useful first-time traveler expectation.
Gui Street is famous as a Beijing food destination.
But that doesn’t mean every restaurant serves only traditional Beijing dishes.
Dad saw different regional cuisines and modern food businesses along the street too.
That’s part of what makes it interesting.
You’re not walking through a food museum.
You’re walking through a living commercial food street.
Beijing tastes much bigger than Beijing cuisine alone.
ChinaTravelBUG’s Take
What did we actually experience that night?
Not one famous dish.
Not one restaurant.
Not one historic building.
It was the combination.
Old-style shopfronts.
Modern restaurant signs.
Red lanterns.
Late-night diners.
Traditional snacks.
Traffic.
Delivery scooters.
A rain-wet Beijing street.
And Elaine scanning a QR code to buy a drink.
That’s the Beijing we keep finding on our travels.
Not:
Old China OR modern China.
But:
Old visual memory + modern daily life + people simply getting on with their evening.
So if you’re visiting Beijing for the first time, don’t fill every night with another formal attraction.
Give yourself one evening to go somewhere lively.
Walk.
Eat something.
Buy a drink.
Look at the shopfronts.
Listen to the street.
And stay long enough for the red lanterns to come on.
Sometimes that’s when Beijing looks best.
